I have four characters that need name ideas, all four are siblings. Last name is McAllister (they are American but their Parents are both Scottish and moved to America from Scotland 1st Character- Male, 32 years old, is a Police Officer (birth year range- 1986 to 1988) He cares about his family and friends, he loves his city and he always tries his best to make sure it stays safe. 2nd Character- Female, 29 years old (twin to character 3), is a Firefighter (birth year range- 1989 to 1991) She loves being a firefighter and has always wanted to be one ever since she was a kid I already have these names in mind for her Audrey Avery Delaney Gwen Valerie 3rd Character- Male, 29 years old (twin to character 2), is a Doctor (Hospital) (birth year range- 1989 to 1991) He loves his job and his family, decides to become a Doctor to help as many people as he can. I'm not sure if I want his first name to be extremely matchy with his twin sister's name but maybe names that go with her name (not sure what name I'll choose for yet though) 4th Character- Male, 24, is a Paramedic (birth year range- 1994 to 1996) Looks up to his older siblings The story will probably be set in a fictional town or city, not sure what state yet though.
Sorry but no, the last name is McAllister and that's not going to change and no offense but I joined this forum site to hopefully get some actual help not somewhat joking answers
I struggle with character names too. Usually I just pick something planning to change it later, but I never do
No offense back atcha, but my first reply was my way of saying,'how would we know?'. Looking at your suggested names for the female character, I can't imagine any reason to choose one over the others given the information you've provided. I think writers spend way too much time obsessing over character names. Anything but Kat, and you're good to go.
Carter the police officer, Magnus the paramedic. Twins Aidan and Sawney. They're all Scottish names. Sawney was especially interesting as it means defender of men. These are just toss outs for fun as it's hard to dub anyone else's characters. You'll have your own impressions and such. I usually type in baby name lists on google adding an adjective for the impression I want the character to have - such as - strong baby names or cute baby names or believe or not sexy baby names.
Ok so these are my suggestions and take them with a grain of salt as I suggest names from my own experiences as someone born onl a couple years earlier than your oldest character and grew up with kids of similar popular names of that time AND my sister and I both attended an Irish Catholic school growing up. My dad's family is Scotch-Irish and there are MANY of us. That being said- interesting suggestion if you are in need of fictional settings, my father's family is based mainly out of upstate Pennsylvania/Pocono Mountain region around Scranton, Wilkes-Barre where there was a very large population of people of this heritage who settled there. Lots of coal miners up there in the old days and there are a lot of "little cities" and towns with strong family lineage among the local population. His family predates the wave of immigration in the 1800s and 1900s and goes back to 1600 and 1700s. Likewise my sig. other's family is Irish dependency and his step father was a retired fireman, his brother is an EMT and sister a nurse. Their generation is a bit out of range to reference for name suggestions for your characters, but there are a lot of recycled names used across generations. Boy names: Donald, Michael, Brian, Peter, Adam, Dylan, Alastair, Daniel, Blake Girl names: Michelle, Avril, Emerette (my cousin and grandmother's name), Lorie, Erin, Danielle, Katelyn, Brandee
I meant to include a few thoughts or questions in my initial response. Without knowing what stage of writing you are at or anything, and this isn't to pick on you or anything but more to help streamline your process maybe... perhaps think about what you are doing and why with this. As another poster kinda pointed out, I am not sure how the details you provided about the characters are relevant to name selection. I only say this to help you think through your process a little and get deeper into your characters. For instance, why are these points relevant to you and specifically for the characters' names? What is the significance of the family being Scottish? IS this an element from your own life? Why the focus on doctor, emt, cop, etc. What concerns me here, and I may be completely wrong and making assumptions with this, but be careful about cliches and stereotypes. And I say that only because there is a longstanding heritage/reputation in America among Irish Americans in policework. Specifying that they are a family of Scottish descent, focusing on ethnicity as an identifier for establishing appropriate names AND (while not all cops) focusing on public service roles... I immediately gave me the impression it is as if you are seeking to uphold said stereotype. I assume this is fairly modern day given their ages, so since first generation American-born Scottish American (since the parents were born overseas) I understand a closer a embrace to their native culture in selecting ethnic names. If these were third fourth or fifth generation or more i would ask what the significance in maintaining close bonds with their heritage, since many Americans, once assimilated, go on to abandon traditional names in favour of whatever, Unless of course they, again, are very in touch with their heritage and/or there is some significance to the name, like perhaps an ancestor or whatever. There is nothing wrong with any of this, only you know your story and what matters and why, which is why I ask. In terms of stereotypes, I ask about why their career roles are important- doctor and that he works in a hospital- because unless you are going for the stereotype thing, like a doctor having a hoidy toidy intellectual ivy-league sounding name one might stereotype a doctor as having, I am pretty sure the parents would not have named each of their children to suit their respective future careers, does that make sense? Like I could name a character who is a truck driver "Billy Bob" or "Butch" and that would be all fine if cliche was the goal. But he might also be Louis or Archibald, because his mom thought her son was going to win a nobel prize one day... does that make sense? Stereotypical cop type figure in a city- Irish American or Italian American... Murphy or Tony. College Professor- Reginald Smith. This is profiling. You either want it and run full speed ahead into creating characters with extremely identifiable and predictable personalities or take a less expected approach, you know? Just saying all this to drive your planning and force you to think about ideas maybe you haven't yet. I certainly have a a lot of development to do still on my own story for certain characters because I was jumping into stereotypes to throw together these rather shallow undeveloped characters who are not particularly driving the story... that's all. Like why is it important for my character and his siblings to have traditionally Jewish names? Because that is integral to the character's background. However, he is not particularly religious and therefore other than naming one of his own kids after a relative, giving his other kids a Jewish name is not a requirement for him.
Try thinking about the meaning of the names in relationship to their professions. As an example, the Hungarian word for "doctor" is "orvos." So perhaps your medical practitioner could be Orville. In Heinlein's novel "Stranger in a Strange Land" many of his characters are named in a similar way. Michael, the protagonist, is a messianic figure. The name Michael means "Who is like God."
So you are suggesting the author name is characters after their professions? That would be an amazing coincidence that they ended up doing for a living the roles their names represent lol That would be like naming my kid Smith and they become a metal worker. Seems a bit contrived or cliche in my opinion but it's not my story to make that call. If that is the effect the author is hoping to accomplish than by all means that would be how to do it. I am personally not fond of stories with this approach, it highlights the make believe-ness of it. Like the archetypal rich kid who has blond hair and is named Winston or Theodore or something painfully stereotypically waspy lol
The idea has been used. The Bible is replete with names like these. "Jesus" means saviour. "Judas" means traitor. "Satan" means the devil. "God" means God. ETC.
Same here. I usually end up with a lame name like "Lenny" or "Latimer" or "Lothar". Heck, I could not even pick a decent name for myself as a moniker on this site. The pressure to find a name just like that, when I registered, was too much.
This is serious. The names for children are picked by their parents. The moment the baby is born, the parents have NO CLUE how the baby will turn out later as an adult. So whatever name the parents give the children, they are randomly assigned; the names don't herald a profession, fate, disease, etc. Any semblances later, are pure coincidences. Therefore I would go with your chosen names, Original Poster, for the girls, and with names picked from the lists generously provided by the contributors who are of Scottish descent and know SOMEthing about Scots culture and names and stuff. To our Canadian friends: a lot of the Ontarion Provincial Police force comprises people with old Irish names. Virtually everyone in the force is an O'Peepee.
So, are you saying if we ask your friends, they not going to say you're a little off? We won't ask what—your meds or your rocker. Just off.
You're assuming realistic stories. What if someone is writing a satire about Harry Wifethwacker and his seventeen brats? OK, in this particular case (this thread) it's probably a nominally realistic story. But I'm just sayin'...
Everyone should write about what they know. I stick to reality. "Drugs are for people who can't handle reality." -- Saying from the 1960s. "Reality is for people who can't handle drugs." -- Saying from the 1970s. I am already a bit off, even without drugs.
You're absolutely right Catriona Grace! I put those meanings to names in jest. I should have thought that that would have been obvious. Anyway, good of you to notice the untruth. (I can't exactly call it a lie... I did not say it to mislead people, which is half of the two main ingredients of a lie. Lie = untruth uttered in full awareness, and uttered with the intention to mislead.) Is there a single word in English to convey that? I mean, all fiction is not lie, although all fiction supposedly came into existence not in reality but in the writer's mind. Even examples in textbooks, that are hypothetical are not descriptions of true events, yet they are not lies. ETC. In my case it was a case of telling untruth to convey a hilarious effect. Not to mislead. Only half of my effort here is to explain my report card; the other half of my effort is to show that there is a major concept for which I can't find the proper expression in English.
Obviously not. It wasn't a personal shot at you. I just embraced the opportunity to share esoteric information gleaned from my study of the etymology of personal names. Remarkable restraint was exhibited in limiting myself to a single name.
I had to research "Jesus" after your post, I was so intrigued by your input. It does mean "Saviour" and its predecessors of etymological roots also meant something godly. I was quite surprised to learn that, I thought Jesus was a random name like Fred or Gordon or Brian. I did not research Satan. I thank you for galvanizing me to reform, and refrain in the future from apathetically and pathetically misrepresenting names from the Bible. I guess in the ultimate there are no names that started out as mere identifiers. All names meant something in those times when the meaning of names meant something more than just a name.
I hadn't meant to glavanize anyone to anything, but I'm happy to introduce you to an esoteric field. I'm always astonished when folks name their children based on pretty sounds or trends and disregard the name's roots. Casimir, for example, means "destroyer of peace." There were many mornings at 3 a.m. that I thought I should rename my child Casimir.
I remember back in the nineties, before I got Google on my desk, I bought a baby-name book because I thought it was cool to have one. I never had a child, no marriage, and always dated women past menopause, with only a handful of exceptions. Anyway, baby names. I pored through that book, until I happened to a name, forgot what it was. But I'll never forget its meaning: "My wife, my right hand." I looked at my right hand, and started to laugh... at that time I was a bit more fat than acceptable, and dates came few and far between.
